Sakura Shan
The woman who would become known as the Dróttinn Sakura Shan is a legendary figure in Lyuudri history. Born into bondage in Feralas, her intelligence, strength of spirit, and faith in Elune quickly saw her become a community leader, and when the Burning Legion invaded and Elos Astarion Zin-Shalla pressed her people into service as warriors, she began a revolt that ultimately toppled Zin-Shalla's regime and established the Lyuudri as an independent tribe. Her ultimate fate is unknown, and while much of Lyuudri cultural history has been lost due to assimilation into Arathi culture, Sakura remains an important figure to the Lyuudri people. History While history remembers this woman as Dróttinn Sakura Shan, she was born simply as Sakura. The names of her parents are not recorded, but it is believed that she was an only child born into an agricultural community just north of the Highborne city of An'dalathar. Like all Lyuudri at the time, her life was the possession of the Prince of An'dalathar, Elos Astarion Zin-Shalla, the Highborne warlord who had enslaved her people as they fled from King Ymiron millennia before. From an early age, Sakura showed great intelligence and strength of spirit, and she came under the tutelage of the local Elunite shaman, who acted as the matriarch of their village. Legend tells of numerous tasks Sakura was forced to undertake to prove her worthiness and grow closer to Elune, but what is known is that she proved a very capable priestess and succeeded her teacher as matriarch of the village. As far as can be told, she did little in this position to foreshadow the role she would play in her people's history. During Sakura's lifetime, Prince Astarion spent the majority of his time at Zin-Azshari in a vain attempt to court Queen Azshara, so the day-to-day operation of An'dalathar fell to Astarion's sister Elar Sylvenasi and his retainers, a motley collection of upjumped Highborne warriors. Sylvenasi could be best described as a dilettante, and Astarion's retainers were hardly trained in statecraft, and as such their Lyuudri worker caste was extorted as a conquered population, with little regard to the consequences. Astarion remained blissfully ignorant of the crumbling relations between the Lyuudri and his house. When Azshara summoned the Burning Legion into Azeroth, Zin-Shalla immediately declared himself for her and ordered his retainers to mobilize his levy. Due to the disproportionately Lyuudri population, more than four-fifths of the An'dalathar levy was formed of Lyuudri footmen, armed, armored, and led by the Quel'dorei house and its retainers. Not wanting to deal with the minutiae of organizing the Lyuudri, however, many retainers appointed Lyuudri lieutenants within the levy, who would in turn report to the Highborne elite. With the levy raised, Zin-Shalla's retainers divided their forces into separate armies and marched into western Kalimdor to engage with the Kaldorei Resistance. Sakura, whether an official lieutenant or not, was a figure of some prominence in one of these armies. Under her command, several companies of Lyuudri warriors infiltrated the camp of their Quel'dorei general and executed him and his honor guard, seizing control of the army and all its supplies and siege weapons. With these weapons in tow, Sakura led the Lyuudri revolt back to Zin-Shalla's feudal capital, besieging the city, still commanded by Sylvenasi on her brother's behalf. The siege was a stalemate for almost a month, as Sylvenasi managed to convince the Lyuudri garrison that the besieging army was in fact a Kaldorei one, reinforcing the deception with powerful illusion magic. However, Sakura managed to prevent word of the siege from reaching Astarion in Zin-Azshari, and eventually Lyuudri infiltrators breached Sylvenasi's defenses and rallied the Lyuudri defenders to their banner. Within twenty-four hours the city was taken. Sylvenasi, rather than be captured, threw herself from the city's central tower. At this point, Sakura formally declared the Lyuudri's independence from the Highborne Empire. She took on the antiquated Vrykul title of Dróttinn, as well as the Darnassian honorific "Shan," by which she and her descendants would be known. The wiser Quel'dorei fled their armies with their honor guards, stealing or damaging supplies as they departed. The more foolish of Zin-Shalla's generals, however, attempted to steer their own armies back to the capital to quash the insolent revolt, only to find themselves at the mercy of their own Lyuudri lieutenants, many of whom were not merciful. If Zin-Shalla himself ever knew what had transpired in his fiefdom, he never acted upon it, remaining on the front lines. Here Sakura's history passes back into legend, which attributes to her several years of rule at An'dalathar before undertaking a mass migration eastward. She is known to have produced heirs, who continued to rule the Lyuudri after her passing, but the name of her spouse is not known. Cultural Impact Sakura is the embodiment of the Lyuudri matriarchy - strong-willed, intelligent, martial, and highly religious. Though certainly not the origins of matriarchy amongst the Lyuudri, she cemented matriarchal rule for millennia to come, particularly through her firstborn daughter's line. Much of Lyuudri culture has been lost due to assimilation into Arathi culture; however, Sakura's legend remains known, and as such she is a popular namesake for Lyuudri women, particularly firstborn daughters, who will hopefully inherit the original Sakura's strength and power. Her birthday, typically placed sometime in the month of March, has also given birth to a traditional Lyuudri spring festival, in which a pastry named in her honor, sakuramochi, is consumed.Category:Characters Category:Human Category:Deceased Category:Legends Category:Lyuudri